Branding and dehorning chute for cattle



April l, 1952 A. osMETTl BRANDING AND DEHORNING CHUTE FOR CATTLE 2SHEETS--SHEET l Filed May 4. 1951 Jnre w- ,Usme

April 1,1952 A. QSMETTI 2,591,191

BRANDING AND DEHORNING CHUTE FOR CATTLE Filed May 4. 1951 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Atm/wry Patented pr. 1, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT ori-ICEBRANDING AND DEHORNING CHUTE FOR CATTLE Andrew Osmetti, Beckwerth,Calif. Application May 4, 1951, Serial No. 224,601

Figure 5 is a fragmentary side elevational View looking from right toleft of Figure 2. Y

Referring more specifically to the drawings, the dehorning and brandingchute in its entirety is designated generally 6 and includes four corner`posts including two front corner posts 'I and two rear corner posts 8,only one of which posts 3 has been shown, and which posts I and B areanchored in the ground and disposed in. upright positions. The alignediront and rear corner 1 posts 'l and 8 are connected by a plurality ofbars More particularly, it is an aim of the present invention to providea chute having means at the forward end thereof to engage the neck andface of a cow or steer and to thus form a temporary closure to preventthe escape of the steer forwardly through the front of the chute andlikewise prevent the steer from backing away from the forward end of thechute until after the necessary branding. and/or or dehorning opera'tions have been completed.

`Still a further object of theinvention is to provide a chute havingconnected face engaging means at its forward end for holding the head ofa cow or steer substantially immobile to thereby substantiallyimmobilize the animal while `a branding operation is being performed .onit and for completely immobilizing the head while the horns are beingcut oi.

Still a further object of the invention is to pro vide a chute whereinthe animal head engaging means may be released by operators disposed atopposite sides of the chute to thereby eliminate risk 'of injury to theoperators when the forwardend of the chute is opened and the animal thusreleased and which might otherwise occur where a frightened animalcharges out of the forward end of the chute after being releasedtherefrom. l

Variousother objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafterbecome more fully apparent from the following description of thedrawings, illustrating a presently preferred embodiment thereof, andwherein:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary sideelevational view of a chute constructed inaccordance with the invention;

Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the same;

Figure 3 is a. fragmentary longitudinal vertical section view takensubstantially along a plane as indicated by the line 3--3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a horizontal sectional view of the forward end, of the chutetaken substantially along a plane asindicated by the line 4--4 of Figure2, and

or slats 9 of a suitable number to prevent an animal such as a cow orsteer from escaping through a side of the chute G and which are spacedapart so that access will be readily afforded to the sides of the animalwhile in the chute 4for the purpose of branding the animal or ior otheroperations to be performed thereon. The chute 6 is of a conventionaltype at its rear being open between its rear corner posts 8 to 1 allowan animal to be led into the chute through its open rear end and towardits forward end and the chute may be of any desired length, preferablysomewhat longer than the length of steer.

l A novel feature of the present invention relates to` an improvedconstruction of stanchion, designated generally Ill and/forming anaddition to the conventional portion of the chute as constituted by theparts 1, 8 and 9. The stanchion `III includes a pair of upright anchorposts III which are spaced apart a distance corresponding to the spacebetween the front corner posts 'I and which are connected in properlyspaced relationship adjacent their upper and lower ends by pairs ofstretcher bars I2 between the ends of which the anchor posts aredisposed. One stretcher bar I2 of each of the pairs is disposed with itsends between the anchor posts l I and the front corner posts I toadditionally function as a spacing member for spacing the anchor postsfrom the front corner posts, as best illustrated in Figure 1. Bolts orother suitable fastenings I3 extend through the complementary ends ofeach pair of stretcher bars I2 and through portions of the anchor postsengaged thereby and saidfastenings I3 are anchored in the front cornerposts l for securing the stanchion I thereto. Each front corner post land the adjacent anchor lpost II are also preferably connected by aplurality of nut and bolt fastenings I4 which are disposed between thebars I2. A pair of links I5 are connected at corresponding ends thereofto each anchor post I I beneath and adjacent the upper bars I2 by a nutand bolt fastening I6 dn which said links are swingably mounted forvertical swinging movement and the individual links of each pair oflinks are supported in spaced substantially parallel relationship by theanchor post II which is disposed between said links. A lower pair oflinks I1 is similarly connected by a fastening I6 to each anchor post IIand substantially above the lower stretcher bars I2. rIhe opposite endsof the pairs of links I5 and I1 which are connected to each anchor postII are pivotally connected by fastenings I8 to a rod or pipe I9, whichrods are disposed between the anchor posts I I and each of which rodsare disposed between complemen-ltary ends of the links I5 and I1connected thereto. The rods or pipes I9 have end portions disposed aboveand beneath the links I5 and I1 which extendloosely through the spacesbetween the upper and lower pairs of bars I2 and in which said endportions of the rods I9 are guided for movement vertically and laterallyof the stanchion IIJ, as will hereinafter become apparent.

A pair of strap members 20 is secured by a fastening 2i to the upperportion of one of the anchor posts il and said strap members have upperends extending above the upper end of saidanchor post for looselyreceiving therebetween the intermediate portion of a lever 22 which ispivotally supported between the strapsV 20 by a fastening 23 whichextends loosely through said lever and is anchored adjacent its ends inthe upperrv portions of the strapsV 2i). The lever 22 has'rnan inner enddisposed substantially cenijmallyV above the stanchion I0 and which isconnected by exible members such as chains 24 tothe upper ends of therods I. A chain 25 or other flexible member is connected to and dependsfrom the opposite end of the lever 22 and which is disposed outwardly`of one side edge of the stanchi'on l0.

34, the throat engaging rod 21 will swing downwardly on its pivotsubstantially into the space between the posts I and H on which the rod21 is supported and when the chain 3i is disengaged from the iiange 33the weight 35 will cause the longer end of the rod 29 to swing upwardlyand toward anY upright position.

A bracket 375 is mounted in an upright position on the outer side of thepost il, engaged by the fastenings St, and is disposed beneath the lowerfastening Ziiwhich swingably supports the throat rod 21. One end of anose or face engaging bar 3l is disposed in the bracket 35 and swingablyconnected thereto for swinging movement in a horizontal plane by meansof the vertically disposed fastening 38. A chain 39 has one endconnected to the opposite end of the bar 31 and is detachably anchoredin one of the slots 35 to hold the bar 3i in its position of Figures land 2 across the front of the sta'nchion Iii.. As best seen in Figures 3andr, thebar-Sl is provided with an outwardly bowed intermediate.portion 353 which projects awayifrom the, front. of the stanchion EG andwhich isadapted to .receiveand engage over the nose or lower portion oftheface of a cowY or steer, thehead of which is shown in Figure 3 at H.l

The chain ZSpreferably has a ring '72'6 at its Y lower end.

Athroatengaging rod 2rhas one endV disposed betweenone anchor post IIand the adjacent corner post 'l and is swingably` connectedv to saidposts by a fastening 28 which extends through said end and is anchoredin said posts 'I and I.I. A neck. engaging bar 2i! is swingably mountedby another fastening 28 onfthe same posts 1 and II and above the barv 21and near to. but spaced from one end of said bar Z9. A chain 30 iskconnected at one end to the opposite end Vof l the bar 21 and a chainSI is connected at one are in substantially horizontal positionsk asillus-v trated in Figure 2. An elongated metal strip or plate 3'2 issecured to the outer side ofV the last mentioned corner post 1 and hasan outwardly projecting vertically disposed ange 33Y provided with aplurality of inclined slots 34 havingupper ends opening outwardly of theouter edge of the flangey 33. The slots 34 selectively receive links. ofthe chains 3i) and 3`I and a link of each'chain disposed beyond the linkwhich engages aslot 34'V Assuming that the chains Se, 5I and 39 aredisengaged from theY ange 33, the rodsfland- 2S will be dispose-d insubstantially vertical positions as previously described and the bar'3'lm'ay be swung away from the front of: the vstanchion. I El. Likewise, ifthe lever 22 is released the weight ofY the rods or pipes it. willcausesaid elements to move downwardly.V and asa result the pairs of links l5and Ii lwills'wing downwardly. so` that the rods or pipes I9. will'bedisplaced. by gravity downwardly and outwardly to their dotted li'nepositions of Figure 2` andthe lever 22 and chains 2t will likewise bemoved thereby to the` dotted? line positions of said parts as. seen inFigure 2. Holes or depressions 4I' may bel provided in the earth beneaththe lower' ends of the after which another cow or steer may be led intothechute through its open rear end and led-l forwardly until the head Hof the Vanimal' is? projecting from the open front ofthe stanchionVv Iilandgtheanimals neck N is disposed in'the stanchion. Preferably, beforethe animal is led into `the chute'the throat engaging bar "2,1j'i`fsfVswung" back to its horizontal position of Figurez and the chain 3ethereof fis 'engaged in one of the slotsv 3d so thatas the animatieV ledforwardly through the chute its head will passthrough'the stanchion overthe "throatyengaging, bar 21` `and which willV thus function'to preventthez animal from walking on forwardly through the stan--` chion. Thechain or flexible memberY 25v iS' then grasped and pulled downwardly toswing the lever 22 -counterclockwise on its pvot `2,3 tov elevate thepipes Il. V rEhe links I5 and I?! Willcause the wardiy to its horizontalposition of Figure 2 to engage'over the top of the neck of the animaland may be retained in this position by engaging the chain 3l with oneof the-slots 34. The pipes I9 are held in their adjacent full linepositions withv vthe links l1 `in substantially horizontal planes,preferably by attaching the ring 26 of the chain-25 to a hook l2 whichis anchored in the post llon which `the lever 22 is swingably supported.With the parts i9, 21 and 29 disposed as seen in Figure 2, the animal isheld against movement to any considerable extent either forwardly orrearwardly of the chute and stanchion but in order to hold the animalwith its head H immobile and with its' body substantially irnmobile, thenose bar 31 is then swung to a position across the front of thestanchion lo and the chain 39 -connected to the flange 33 so that theoutwardly bowed intermediate nose engaging portion 4D of the bar 31 willengage over the face or nose of the animal to thus hold the headimmobile and the body substantially immobile so that the horns of theanimal may be cut off, a brand may be applied to the body of the animalor any other desired operation may be performed on the animal. The chain39 is rst released and the bar 31 is swung away from the open front ofthe Vstanchion ii), after which the chains 3E] and 3l'are released fromthe iiange 33 to allow the bars 21 and 29 to assume substantiallyvertical position. The ring 26 is then disengaged from the hook l2 andreleased so that the pipes I9 may swing to their dotted line positionsof Figure 2 to thus completely expose or open the stanchion l to permitthe animal to walk forwardly therethrough and out of the chute.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and may obviously beresorted to, without departing from the spirit or scope of the inventionas hereinafter defined by the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. The combination with a cattle chute having an open rear end and anopen forward end and including front corner posts disposed intransversely spaced relationship relatively to the chute and definingits open forward end, of a stanchion having laterally spaced uprightanchor posts, means securing each of the anchor posts to one of thefront corner posts and supporting the anchor posts in front of andspaced from the front corner posts, a pair of upright neck engagingmembers disposed between the anchor posts in spaced relationship to oneanother, vertically spaced pairs of links connecting each of said neckengaging members to an adjacently disposed anchor post for vertical andlateral movement of the neck engaging members relatively to the anchorposts, said links being pivotally supported on the anchor posts forvertical swinging movement and being urged downwardly by gravity fordisplacing the neck engaging members downwardly and away from oneanother, manually actuated means including a lever fulcrumedintermediate of its ends on one of the anchor posts for displacing saidneck engaging members upu wardly and toward one another, a throatengaging member swingably connected at one end thereof to one of saidanchor posts for vertical swinging movement, means for latching saidthroat engaging member in substantially al horizontal position betweenthe anchor posts and across said upright neck engaging members when thelatter are in elevated positions, a neck engaging rod pivotallysupported for vertical swinging movement adjacent one end thereof on thelast mentioned anchor post and above the pivot of said throatengagingmember, means for latching said neck engaging rod insubstantially a horizontal position with a portion thereof disposedbetween the anchor posts and extending across the upright neck engagingmembers to cooperate.

therewith and with a portion of the throat engaging member to dene aneck receiving opening, and'counter-weight means connected to the neckengaging rod and urging the end thereof disposed between the anchorposts to swing upwardly and toward the anchor post on which said rod isswingably supported.

2. A structure as in claim 1, said throat engaging member and neckengaging rod being disposed behind the upright neck engaging members,and stop means engaging certain of said linksand limiting swingingmovement of said links upwardly to prevent the links from swingingupwardly beyond horizontal positions.

3. A structure as in claim l, said upright neck engaging members beingdisposed in front of the throat engaging member and neck engaging rod,and a nose engaging member swingably connected at one end thereof to oneof said anchor posts for swinging movement in substantially a horizontalplane, means for latching theopposite `end of said nose engaging memberin a position across the outer sides of the anchor posts and across theupright neck engaging members and forwardly thereof, `said nose engagingmember being disposed below the throat engaging member when the latteris in substantially a horizontal position and having an outwardly oisetarcuate intermediate portion adapted to engage across the face of ananimal when the neck of the animal is engaged by the upright neckengaging members, the throat engaging member and neck engaging rod.

4. A stanchion for closing or exposing the open forward end of a cattlechute comprising a pair of spaced upright anchor posts disposedforwardly of and substantially in alignmentwith the sides of a cattlechute, a pair of upright neck engaging members disposed between saidanchor posts, link means connecting each neck engaging member to theadjacent anchor post, said link means being supported for verticalswinging movement on the anchor posts, said neck engaging members beinggravity urged downwardly and away from one another, manually actuatedmeans for elevating the neck engaging members and for displacing saidmembers toward one another, a throat engaging member connected forvertical swinging movement on one of the anchor posts, means fordetachably latching said throat engaging member in substantially ahorizontal position between the anchor posts and across the upright neckengaging members, said throat engaging member being urged' downwardly bygravity to substantially a vertical position to one side of the openingdefined by the anchor posts, a neck engaging rod swingably connected tothe last mentioned anchor post above the connection of the throatengaging member thereto, means for latching said neck engaging rod insubstantially a horizontal position across said upright neck engagingmembers and above the throat engaging member, and counter- Weight meansconnected to the neck engaging rod and urging it to swing in theopposite direction to the throat engaging member whereby said uprightneck engaging members, the throat engage ing member and neck engagingrod are gravity urged when released to positions for exposing the 7stanchion opening deiined liby the anchor posts to permit an :animal `to`pass therethrough.

E. :A .stanchicn structure asin claim 4, and a nose .engaging memberswingably connected at one zendthereof .to one ofY said anchor posts forswinging Amovement in ahorizontal piane, means for ldetachalzvlylatohingisaidnose engaging member-"across :the anchor posts, said noseengaging member :being disposed across the outer side of thestanchionand outwardlyof the anchor posts and yupright neck engaging members whenin a latched position, said uprightneck engaginglmem- 'bers beingVdisposed in the plane of .the anchor posts, and said neck engaging rodand throat engaging member being'disposedbehind .the anchor.

posts and `upright neck engaging members when inlatched positions.

6. Astanchion as in claim, said noseengaging memberrhavingan outwardlybowed intermediate portion adapted to engage over the .face of anprevent the link means 'from swingingV upwardly;

beyond horizontal positions. 'Y

8. A stanchion as in claim 4 bars connecting the anchor posts adjacenttheir upper and lower en'dsand Acombining therewith to definethe'stanchien opening, certain of Asaid Vbars beingdisposed toibe.engaged .by certain of the link rneanstogpre-f vent thelink means fromswinging upwardly beyond. horizontal positions, said last mentioned barsbeing arranged in pairsJ and being secured to opposite sides of theanchor posts to deiine guide:

slots therebetween in which the end portions -of the upright neckengaging members are slidably disposed and `guided for :movement in aplane Y" oorrespondingto the plane of lthe anchor posts.

ANDREW GSMETTI.

-HiliitsZCH-S CITED Y The following references are of record in the ofthis patent:

IUNTED filiTES PATENTS Number Name Date 646,251 Young Mar. 27, 1900821,454V Bidwell May 22, 1906 1,805,405 Kuhns May l2', 1931 2,234,356Carter Mar. l1, 1941 2,5641317 Whitworth Aug. i4, v15H31

